BRAGADAYJAH 188

Now that the numbers are in, one can empathize if not completely agree with, the Egyptians’ fear of being swallowed up by the Israelites. Imagine that the number of able bodied men alone was 600,000; and when women and children and young boys and young girls, not to mention old men and old women are factored in, we may be looking at a figure near 2 million, a daunting figure for that era. In addition the multitude of their livestock was growing out of proportion to all the livestock of the Egyptians; the seventy or so souls that went down to Egypt with Jacob had grown into a Nation within a Nation. These people were not Egyptians. Ethnicity apart, they had different customs, different belief systems, and perhaps most importantly they did not worship the Egyptian gods; they had their own God. The problem of course was not so much the numbers; the problem was that the Egyptians sought to stymie their numbers, their growth and their prosperity by enslaving them, and subject them to cruel and inhuman treatment, which caused them to cry out to their God for deliverance. But because of their economic utility, the Pharaoh refused to let them go, and by doing so, brought the will and power of God to bear on the situation. So after afflicting the Pharaoh and his people with divers plagues, including the slaughter of all the first-born of Egypt, the Pharaoh was forced to let Israel go. “And it came to pass the very same day that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.” And having delivered his people, the Lord gave Moses further instructions for them. “Sanctify unto me all the first-born that opens the womb among the children of Israel both of man and of beast; it is mine.” And Moses said unto the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place; there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day came ye out in the month Abib.”
BRAGADAYJAH 188